1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a timer device for establishing time zones and operation statuses of an air-conditioning unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
Some known air-conditioning units such as FF (Forced-Flue) type air heaters and air-conditioners are programmable by the user with a timer to establish data with respect to a time zone from a start-of-operation time to an end-of operation time and operation statuses such as a desired room temperature in the time zone, and will operate according to the data programmed with the timer. Certain timers for use with air-conditioning units are capable of establishing time zones and operation statuses for different days. For example, one known timer divides one week into a plurality of groups of days, i.e., an off-day group of Sunday and Saturday, and an weekday group of the other days of the week. The timer can establish data respectively for the off-day group and the weekday group. Another known timer can establish data respectively for different days of the week.
With data thus established in advance for the respective days of the week using the timer, the air-conditioning unit can be operated only in the selected time zones at which the user wants the air-conditioning unit to air-condition the room to keep the room comfortable. Since the air-conditioning unit is turned off in the other time zones at which the user does not want the air-conditioning unit to air-condition the room, unwanted fuel consumption by the air-conditioning unit can be avoided.
If the timer is of the type which can establish data respectively for the off-day group and the weekday group, then different time zones cannot be established for individual days, e.g., a time zone only for Wednesday cannot be established so as to be different from time zones for other days in the weekday group. The timer of this type is thus not convenient to use. The timer that is of the type which can establish data, e.g., time zones and operation statuses, for the individual days of the week is also disadvantageous in that the user has to establish time zones, one by one, for the days ranging from Monday through Sunday. Even if the time zones to be established are all identical to each other, the user is required to carry out the setting process for all the days of the week, i.e., to repeat the same setting process seven times for the week. The entire setting process is therefore a tedious and time-consuming task.